Tusculum launches new scholarship program with Raise.me

Tusculum is excited to announce a new scholarship program aimed at motivating students to do better in high school and help them become more competitive for the college application process.

Through an online program called Raise.me, students may now earn micro-scholarships from Tusculum starting in ninth grade for a wide range of individual achievements. For example, scholarships may be earned for making good grades, visiting college campuses, scoring well on the ACT/SAT exams and logging community service hours.

In addition to improving clarity and access around financial aid, the new program allows students to track specific goals they want to accomplish throughout high school, helping them become more competitive college applicants and more successful college students. Students may earn up to an $8,000 maximum in scholarships to Tusculum.

Raise.me is a social enterprise focused on expanding access to higher education, especially among low-income and first-generation students. The program was developed in response to the fact that most scholarships and grants today are awarded by colleges at the very end of high school. At this time a student has already done well or not, applied to a college or not, and been accepted or not – which is often too late to impact a student’s college ambitions or choices.

“Through the Raise.me program, students can see their scholarship money increase as a direct effect of the efforts they are making to do well in school, by taking challenging courses and by participate in community service,” said Dr. Paul Pinckley, vice president of enrollment management and marketing at Tusculum.

Raise.me has partnered with a diverse set of nearly 150 schools, including Carnegie Mellon University, Colby College, Georgia Tech, Penn State, the University of Rochester and Tulane University. Raise.me is free for students and also provides a free portal for high school counselors to help students track their progress.

Students, educators and parents can learn more by visiting the Tusculum admissions site at https://www.raise.me/join/tusculum or by calling 423-636-7312.